I’ve Spent Thousands of Hours Testing the Best 3D Printers. There Are Some Clear Winners

A decade ago, I traded in my smartphone for a 3D printer. It was clunky and needed constant tinkering, but I was hooked. What started as hours of trial and error soon turned into a side hustle, selling my own designs on Etsy. Now, 3D printers are better than ever as they're user-friendly, support multi-material printing and are less likely to have failed prints.

Whether you want to make cosplay props, tabletop miniatures or functional prototypes, the right printer can bring your ideas to life in ways you never imagined. I've tested nearly 100 machines, from budget-friendly beginner 3D printers to high-end machines built for professionals, and I still get a thrill every time I see a fresh 3D print come to life.

With so many options out there, picking the right machine can feel overwhelming. That's why I put together this guide. Based on years of hands-on testing -- equating to thousands of hours of print time-- I've rounded up the best 3D printers you can buy in 2025. I focused on what really matters, like print quality, speed and ease of use, but I also looked at the little things that can make or break the experience, such as build plate size, material costs and print head design. No matter your skill level or budget, this guide will help you find a printer that fits your needs and inspires your next big idea. Let's dive in.

Which 3D printer is the best overall?

I've spent almost a decade and countless hours testing 3D printers in as many ways as possible to bring you the best 3D printer models in every class. Right now, the Bambu Lab A1 Combo is my frontrunner: It's fast, can produce excellent detail, and it's well priced at $559 (though currently on sale for $479). It also comes with an excellent color system, allowing you to print in four different colors.

What we updated:September 2025

Improved readability of the best list and updated to the most recent pricing for each product.

Anycubic Kobra 2 Max

Update:Anycubic has released the Kobra 3 Max , the latest version of its Max lineup. It's completely upgraded and much faster than the Kobra 2 Max and has the same ACE color system that the S1 uses. We've spent some time with the Kobra 3 Max, but not a full review's worth. We still think it's the natural upgrade to the Kobra Max 2, and if you're looking for an absolutely massive printer that can print multicolor at a reasonable price, the Kobra 3 Max is a great choice.

What I like:

Anycubic's reputation for dead-simple printers that are not prohibitively expensive scales well to its updated Kobra 2 Max. This machine makes any large printing job a mostly set-and-forget affair. However, its sheer size requires some consideration. This bed-slinger comes with powerful motors to maintain speed with the massive build plate, which caused even the sturdiest table in my workshop to wobble. The gyroscope in the print head helps combat most of this, but if you're printing something especially tall, be prepared for some imperfections.

And like any Anycubic printer, the software is nowhere near as sophisticated as its more expensive competitors. As long as you're alright with those minor compromises, you'll get a lot of great prints out of this machine.

Who should get it:

The Kobra Max series is for making massive prints for cosplays or large displays. It's a nice product and such, but not for everyone. If you're looking to make full-scale chest pieces for your cosplay or statues for your garden, the Kobra Max is an excellent choice.

Who should avoid it:

These huge printers are not for the faint of heart. They can often go wrong as they're large and ungainly. Only buy a machine this big if you need to make large things, not lots of things. It's better to use a fast, smaller machine for multiple small prints.

See at Anycubic (Kobra 2 Max)

Read more: Best budget 3D printers

Anycubic Photon Mono 2 (Updated to the Mono 4)

What I like:

Resin printers are the next step up in rapid prototyping design technology when you want your printing to look as high-quality as possible. Just be warned: Liquid resin is harder to work with, requiring good ventilation and a portable UV light to cure properly. D&D miniatures work perfectly on a resin printer like this, and I recommend this one to start making your own minis.

The Photon Mono 2 is an older model now; they update them so fast, and the Mono 4 is now the obvious update. I haven't used it, but I know that it'll be as good as the Mono 2, if not better. It's also cheaper than the older model. It has a sharp 10K screen, giving much better details, and the build plate is laser-etched to hold the model where it needs to be.

Who should get it:

The Mono 2 (or the Mono 4) is perfect for someone who wants to make a lot of Dungeons and Dragons miniatures or small pieces of jewelry. The 10K screen offers up exquisite details at a cost that is hard to beat.

Who should avoid it:

Resin is toxic and shouldn't be used by young children or in spaces that don't have good ventilation. Its toxicity is also chronic, so it gets worse over time. If you do decide to buy one, make sure you're using all the available protective equipment.

See at Anycubic (Mono 2)

Other 3D printers we've tested

Not every 3D printer I test makes the cut, and some get moved off the list as something new takes its place. These printers may still be worth your time -- like the Bambu Lab P1S, our previous best overall 3D printer -- or they could only be good if they're on sale or perhaps just not worth buying at all.

• The Bambu Lab P1S and P1P are two fantastic CoreXY printers that have been our best 3D printer winners in the past. They are still worth your time, and though the A1 Combo is my current top pick, either of these printers would be a good alternative.

• The Snapmaker J1" target="_self is an IDEX printer that lets you print two models at the same time, increasing your productivity by a good amount. The print quality is great, but the price is a little high to make it a good recommendation.

• Like the Snapmaker, the Prusa XL is an interesting machine whose price makes it difficult to recommend. It's not for the faint of heart, as it has up to five tool heads to wrestle with. However, it does produce much less waste than other printers, and the large bed size is awesome.

• The Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo , once the top of our best budget 3D printer article, was toppled by its CoreXY cousin, the S1. As a budget machine, it was okay, but it struggled to really stand out in this new, color-rich world.

What to consider before buying a 3D printer

Purchasing your first 3D printer can be nerve-wracking, but we're here to help. There are a few main areas that you should consider when choosing the best 3D printer, and we have them covered here.

What am I 3D printing?

When deciding on what 3D printer to buy, you first have to know what type of things you want to print. Resin 3D printing is good for highly detailed models such as character busts, dental work or tabletop miniatures. Even jewelry can be made using a resin 3D printer.

For almost every other application, an FDM (aka filament) 3D printer, is the best choice for most people. Filament 3D printing is versatile in the types of material you can use and offers much larger build volumes to work on models. Cosplay armor and helmets, practical parts and large-scale models are best printed on an FDM printer. 

Read more: What Is 3D Printing?

What is build volume?

Build volume is the amount of space a printer has to produce a model. Often calculated in millimeters cubed, it is the combination of the width, height and depth that your printer's nozzle can reach. This is not always the same as the internal volume of a 3D printer because the wiring and other mechanical parts can get in the way of the nozzle, reducing the area available.

Most FDM printers have a build area of around 220 by 220 by 250mm, although some of the best 3D printers have larger areas, while a few of the  best budget 3D printers  have smaller ones. I think the 220 by 220mm build plate is a good size for starting out, as it has room for large, practical pieces or several smaller models at once. 

How we test 3D printers

Testing 3D printers is an in-depth process. Printers often don't use the same materials, or even the same process to create models. I test SLA, 3D printers that use resin and light to print, and FDM, printers that melt plastic onto a plate. Each has a unique methodology. Core qualifiers I look at include:

• Hardware quality

• Ease of setup

• Bundled software 

• Appearance and accuracy of prints

• Repairability

• Company and community support

A key test print, representing the OG CNET logo, is used to assess how a printer bridges gaps, creates accurate shapes, and handles overhangs. It even has little towers to help measure how well the 3D printer handles temperature ranges.

When testing speed, we slice the model using the standard slicer the machine is shipped with on its standard settings and then compare the real-world duration of the print to the statement completion time on the slicer. 3D printers often use different slicers, and those slicers can vary wildly on what they believe the completion time to be. 

We then use  PrusaSlicer  to determine how much material the print should use and divide that number by the real-world time it took to print, giving us a more accurate number for the speed in millimeters per second (mm/s) that the printer can run at.

Every build plate is supposed to heat up to a certain temperature, so we use the InfiRay thermal imaging camera for Android to check how well they do. We set the build plate to 60 degrees Celsius -- the most used temperature for build plates -- waited five minutes for the temperature to stabilize, and then measured it in six separate locations. We then took the average temperature to see how close the 3D printer got to the advertised temperature.

Testing resin requires different criteria, so I use the  Ameralabs standard test : printing out a small resin model that looks like a tiny town. This helps determine how accurate the printer is, how it deals with small parts and how well the UV exposure works at different points in the model. 

Many other anecdotal test prints, using different 3D models, are also run on each printer to test the longevity of the parts and how well the machine copes with various shapes.

For the other criteria, I researched the company to see how well it responds to support queries from customers and how easy it is to order replacement parts and install them yourself. Kits (printers that come only semi-assembled) are judged by how long and difficult the assembly process is and how clear the instructions are.